Columbus Clippers 6, Toledo Mud Hens 3 (box)
A bullpen game from the Hens went sideways as their pitchers issued 10 walks on the night. The offense was a little off, failing to capitalize on a few chances as they fell to the Cllippers on Wednesday.
Konnor Pilkington got the spot start and just dug himself a little hole in the second with walks, allowing a pair of runs. Tyler Mattison was lucky to only surrender a run in the fourth as he walked four hitters and only got one out in the inning. Tanney Rainey was the only one looking good as he cleaned up Mattison’s mess and tossed a nice fifth inning, collecting five outs with three punchouts.
So it was 3-0 Clippers heading into the sixth as Nick Sandlin took over for the Hens. He had a shaky inning with an assist from a Jace Jung error at second base as the Clippers scored two more for a 5-0 lead.
Finally in the bottom of the sixth, Max Burt drew a walk and singles from Ben Malgeri and Max Clark loaded the bases. Instead of a chance to come back in the game, they just ended up with one run as Max Anderson grounded into a double play. A Corey Julks solo shot and a Max Burt sacrifice fly to score Tyler Gentry made it 5-3 in the seventh.
Matt Seelinger allowed a run in the eighth, and the Hens couldn’t muster any more offense.
Malgeri: 2-4, 2B, K
Gentry: 1-3, R, BB, K
Pilkington (L, 1-4): 3.0 IP, 2 ER, H, 2 BB, 3 K
Coming Up Next: First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. ET on Thursday.
Chesapeake Baysox 9, Erie SeaWolves 2 (box)
The SeaWolves had an uncharacteristically quiet day at the plate while the Baysox did not on Wednesday.
Max Alba got the start, allowing a run in the top of the first. John Peck answered back in the bottom half with his ninth homer of the season to tie things up. It was Peck again in the third with a two-out double, scoring on a Thayron Liranzo single that sneaked through the right side of the infield.
So it was 2-1 Erie, but Alba ran out of gas in the fourth. He gave up three runs, and Johan Simon took over and gave up three more of his own as the Baysox took a 7-2 lead. The offense was out of juice at that point, and Yosber Sanchez gave up two more late runs as the Baysox ran away with this one.
Peck: 2-3, 2 R, RBI, 2B, HR, BB
Liranzo: 1-4, RBI, K
Alba (L, 0-1): 3.1 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 4 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:05 p.m. ET start at UPMC Park on Thursday.
West Michigan Whitecaps 6, Lansing Lugnuts 5 (F/12)(box)
After being walked off over and over again over the past month, it was finally the Whitecaps who rallied late to win on Wednesday. It took 12 innings, but a wild pitch from Lansing and impressively game work from the Whitecaps bullpen got it done.
Ben Jacobs had a rough outing and the Lugnuts took advantage. A pair of walks in the bottom of the second, followed by a successful double steal got them in position for a sacrifice fly that made it 1-0 Lansing. In the fourth, Rodney Green Jr. got to Jacobs for a leadoff homer, and a single followed, ending Jacobs night. Luke Stofel took over and walked the first two hitters he faced, ultimately allowing two more runs and a 4-0 Lansing lead.
Jacobs struck out seven and intermittently looked outstanding as usual, but two walks and a lot of lengthy at-bats shortened his outing signficantly.
The ‘Caps had plenty of opportunities, but couldn’t break through until the eighth inning. Andrew Sojka led off with a walk and stole second base. Ricardo Hurtado was hit by a pitch with one out, and then Lugnuts relievers Ryan Brown threw the ball away on a pickoff attempt. Bryce Rainer stayed ball and flicked an RBI single to right field to make it 4-1, and Luke Shliger pulled a single through the infield to score Hurtado.
Jalen Evans spun a shutdown inning in the bottom of the eighth after good work from Duque Hebbert and Dariel Fregio shepherded the Whitecaps through the middle innings.
In the top of the ninth, with the game on the line, three straight singles from Clayton Campbell, Sojka, and Garrett Pennington scored a run and with two outs, Rainer and Shliger drew walks to force in the tying run. Unfortunately, Jackson Strong struck out to end the bases loaded threat, turning this one into an endurance test.
With Strong on second base to start the 10th, Cristian Santana sacrifice bunted him to third. That proved unnecessary as Juan Hernandez lined a single to make it 5-4. Campbell was hit by a pitch, but Sojka and Pennington struck out.
Logan Berrier allowed the tying run in the bottom half, and the game was only saved by a double play turn that went 4-6-3-2. CJ Weins was able to get a double play ball after a leadoff walk in the bottom of the 11th to keep things tied up after the Whitecaps failed to get the runner home in the top half.
Finally, in the top of the 12th, Strong came through with a good bunt for a single that moved the runner to third. A wild pitch scored the run, but that was all they’d get after they loaded the bases only to see Sojka strike out and Pennington fly out to end the threat.
Weins came back out and induced a pair of pop-ups, and then a grounder to Rainer at shortstop that ended it.
Hernandez: 3-5, RBI
Sojka: 2-5, 2 R, 2 BB, 2 K, SB
Rainer: 1-5, RBI, BB, K
Jacobs: 3.0 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 7 K
Coming Up Next: It’s a 7:05 p.m. ET start in Lansing on Thursday.
Lakeland Flying Tigers 7, Palm Beach Cardinals 3 (box)
Cash Kuiper ran into some largely walk-induced trouble in his start, but Alistair Tanner and the offense were up to the task as the Flying Tigers pounded out 10 hits and took nine walks, running away with this one late.
Zach MacDonald opened the scoring in the top of the third with a drive over the left field wall for his 11th home run already on the season. Unfortunately, he’s still striking out a ton, because he’s an athletic outfielder with huge power developing.
Kuiper was solid early, but gave up two runs in the third and another in the bottom of the fourth. Beau Ankeney had cracked a two-run shot in the top half with Trei Cruz aboard after a walk, so it was 3-3 after four innings.
In the top of the fifth, the Flying Tigers took the lead for good. Jack Goodman reached on a swinging bunt, taking second on a throwing error, and then scoring on a Jordan Yost opposite field double. Trei Cruz spanked a ground ball single to score Yost and make it a 5-3 game.
Jan Carabello did nice work taking over for Kuiper and pitching a clean fifth inning. Then Ali Tanner took the mound for the final four innings, and the 19-year-old right-hander was untouchable. Tanner has a high overhand arm slot and gets massive ride on his fastball. The Cardinals couldn’t cope with it as Tanner mowed through them for four perfect innings and seven strikeouts.
Tanner topped out at 96.5 mph with his fourseamer, averaging 94.5 mph with 20 inches of induced vertical break. He got eight whiffs on 24 swings, but the Cardinals largely just couldn’t pick up his stuff out of hand, taking a ton of called strikes as well. He’s got a mean breaking ball to boot. Like most of the Tigers best young arms, Tanner is still years from Detroit, but his progress will be worth following.
In the seventh, Yost and Cruz drew walks to start the inning and the Flying Tigers were able to rack a pair of insurance runs. Nick Dumesnil bounced into a force of Cruz at second, but Ankeney singled in Yost, and Jesus Pinto plated Dumesnil with a single to make it 7-3 where it ended as Tanner was unhittable the rest of the way.
Yost: 2-4, 2 R, RBI, 2B, BB
Pinto: 3-4, RBI, 2B, BB
Ankeney: 2-5, R, 3 RBI, HR, 2 K
Kuiper: 3.2 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 4 BB, 3 K
Tanner (S, 1): 4.0 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 7 K
Coming Up Next: First pitch on Thursday is set for 6:30 p.m. ET with the series tied at a game apiece.
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